Hi everyone!

     Okay, so this week was good!  It is transfer week! I´m still with Hna Calderon until she goes home in threes weeks in the middle of the transfer! She's going home just a little early to start school right away! I´m nervous for the change but I guess the time has come! Funny story! I had to eat the insides of a goat this week! GROSS! Well she only made me try it.....we had to tell her we were just too darn full from all of her other wonderful food that we didn't have any room for more! DON´T EVER EAT MONDONGO! ITS BAD! dumb goats..... ugh=) Just another journal entry!=) 

     Also we had an incredible lesson this week. It was all completely guided by the spirit! We started off with prayer, shared a scripture about faith and ended with me giving a baptismal invitation completely unplanned and it all just worked out! She even said yes that she would be willing to get baptized if she received and answer! It really was super special! We felt the spirit so strong and she did too.  She told us that we are different  and that we transmit this peace into her home. She says that she can tell that we are happy and she is just wonderful!

      Transfer came and a lot of people changed and I had to say goodbye to a really good friend that has helped me since day one. That is hard. The mission is all about change, and learning to change and learning not to resist it but to do the will of the father so that He can shape you into the person that He wants you to be. That is something that I really am learning. I hope that I can embrace all the changes that are coming and face them head on! I'm so grateful to be learning here! I´m learning everyday how much I need my Heavenly Father and how many weaknesses I have. I know without a doubt that we have weaknesses for a reason and that we cannot do this by ourselves! I know that this is God´s church on the Earth and that it is true. I know that my Savior loves me and that he has giving an amazing gift of the atonement that we have to take advantage of.  I know I´m doing God´s work and that I have people waiting for me that I told I would find. I'm grateful that I can have this opportunity to grow and be shaped and be put through the refining fire. I love you all!

Hna. Carey

Dear everyone!

     This week was good! We were invited to our mission house with our sister leaders to a family home evening! We took familia Guzman and they loved it! We talked all about eternal marriage and the plan of salvation! Afterwards they were hugging and it was the cutest thing ever! I got my package! YAY! Thank you for that! Everything there was fabulous! Everyone made fun of me though because they called me a pharmacy. But I sure proved them wrong when Hna Calderon got a giant stress knot in her neck and started walking crooked and I gave her some Ben-gay and she felt better! HA! Anyways that's all that happened this week pretty much! Love you guys!

Hna Carey

Dear mom,

     So this week sure was interesting.....Hna. Calderon had parasites so we had to go to a Dominican Clinic (which is better that a hospital) and eesh....never want to go there ever again! That was not a fun experience. And two and a half days just in one room! NOT FUN. 

     Yes I did get my hair trimmed! But they sure are not used to cutting blond hair! I´m going to let it grow my whole mission and then see how it looks with trims of course though! You know how you can see every cut? Well you can just see that in the front part so I have to pin up my ¨bangs¨ My scalp is doing better! Tea tree shampoo is amazing! I love it so much and it smells like home! Mom I really just want to tell you that I love you so much and appreciate everything that you do and have done for me! You have been an amazing example to me of who I want to become! I love you!

     Things I've learned......I´ve learned to be more confident with myself and how I walk(not trying to hide anymore as much) and that yep sometimes things suck, but we can always learn to adapt to that. I've learned to make food for myself with out a microwave and even a fridge for a while.  I have learned SO much patience and love! Also learning to open up about problems and fixing them instead of letting them eat at me.  Oh yeah and to have fun and laugh every chance you can or else time will go slower!  All good things to learn

Dear Dad,

      I got to meet someone super amazing today. Just one of those people who has an incredible spirit to them and makes you want to be a better person. He was one of Hna Calderon´s first baptisms and his name is Robinson and he is Haitian and is amazing! His story is amazing and he is just a testament to how the gospel blesses people. He told us how he prays for food because he´s hungry and how Heavenly Father provides for him. You know we are so blessed. I  have never in my life had to pray for food because there was literally nothing and he has to do that regularly. He sometimes goes days without eating. And yet he still has an incredible testimony that is stronger than people who have been members for years. He is one strong person! He was amazing and I barely know him and I already love him.  I feel like my life has been blessed by meeting him today.=) Anyways I love you a lot dad!



They bought fabric and had a lady make them matching skirts for $10.00 each.

The Bishops son posed with them because his yellow tie matched their skirts

      Hey Mom! 

     You look good! Love that dress! So for this week.....I accidentally got blessed by a priestess in the middle of the street! So I didn´t feel good one day so we were just standing on the sidewalk and I was leaning against Hna. Calderon and this woman comes up to us and asks if I feel okay. So I explained how I didn't feel good and she goes oh!  I can say a prayer for you! And I thought she meant that she´d go home and include me in her prayers and so I said yes. She then grabbed my elbow and tells me to close my eyes and proceeds to give me a ¨blessing¨. It was strange but I guess it's the thought that counts....=) I got to visit a different area this week because  Hna Calderon ends her mission soon.  So she´s allowed to visit her old area and I got to go to La Vega with her! That was way fun! I love seeing new places and being out and being in rutas and guaguas! So fun! Other than that it was a quiet week. Love you all!

love,

Leah

Hi dad, 

      I love you! I had a good week this week! Are you counting down the days to graduation? I´m getting a new companion in threes weeks! Scary! its weird to think about being in Los Reyes without her though but she is going home.  It's weird though becasue she goes home in the middle of the transfer because she is going early for school. So I get another companion in the middle of a transfer! But I'm excited as well! I hit 6 months on the 12th! Almost one third done! It's going really fast though! Well I love you!

          Love,

          Leah!

Hello everyone!

     Allright I had some interesting experiences this week! Well mainly today..... I was stopped at a corner getting rocks out of my shoes and Hna Calderon walked a couple feet in front of me and looked around the corner and then ran back yelling.... AHHHH.... HNA CAREY, THERE'S A MAN PEEING!!!!!!!! That was SO FUNNY! Also to get back from our baseball activity, which was in the middle of no where, we got to hitchhike on two bolas which are these big funny looking trucks! On the first truck  we could just sit in the back, but there were no sides so we had to be careful.   In the second truck there were sides, but nothing to hold on to, so we both had to stand and hold onto the top of the  truck cab! Super fun? When else in my life will we get to hitchhike standing up in a truck, driving through a tropical country in the middle of nowhere? It was great! I also saw a proposal today! Two MISSIONARIES GOT ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They were boyfriend and girlfriend before the mission and both were called here.  They are never in the same district or zone but they  got permission from the president and he was allowed to propose to her in the middle of the mall in front of everyone! BUT THEY COULDN'T EVEN HUG OR KISS! Hahaha... this mission is crazy! Then we got to go and translate for US doctors for a service with the street children and it was way fun! But it is interesting to see the difference between the Haitian kids and the Latino kids qualities of life. It's sad because the Haitian kids are always a little more beat up. But anyways having life changing experiences over here, so that's always cool!

     Aww.... thanks Mom! I got the package! Everything is fabulous!!!!!!! Thank you so much! I really do appreciate all that you do for me. And I wear mosquito repellant every day and sleep with a mosquito net so you should be proud! Love you!

Love Leah

Mom,

      I still have ear issues that I'm working on and an infected eye, but I saw the doctor AGAIN and hopefully I'll get everything taken care of!  The doctor said I have to get meds for a month to help my ear drain and then it should get better.
     We were inside for 5 days because Hna C had chikungunya and I thought I'd die of boredom. We watched a lot of movies....did you know we are allowed to watch the Best Two years, The Other Side of Heaven, The RM,  Charly and  all LDS movies like that?????  Super cool so please send some of those for the next package!
     When she felt better it felt so good to go back out and work and bear our testimonies again. It was like an old muscle that we needed to exercise, and the last two days were amazing.  We just used our time so well.  We found people that we really needed to find and we gave the first lesson in 30 min flat and the lady understood everything! And Hna Calderon said she was so proud of me for how far my teaching and my Spanish have come! good stuff!!!!!
     Also, please send me fungal cream in general and saline eye drops.  The doctor said that it's been so dirty here lately that they have seen tons of eye infections.  So I have to wash my eyes out every night with eye drops. I have one bottle now, but that will only last so long..... Oh yeah I learned today that most all of the bug spray that they import into the DR is expired from the US....so I still have some and  just to let you know I still have two full bottles and I use it everyday by the way=) Oh yeah and my head is legit freaking out.....it's not getting better. I have looked EVERYWHERE for anything tea tree related and it does not exist in this country! Please send tea tree shampoo and conditioner.  Thank you so much and I really am sorry for asking for this stuff......I do feel really bad.....

 Love You!

Leah

Dad,

FREAK YOU BROKE YOUR ARM?????????? ARE YOU KIDDING ME????? Dad! You have to watch where you are going! Are you ok?????

     Aye aye aye Dad....well at least Ollie is okay=) But I hope you feel better! I'm praying for you guys. Are you guys doing OK? I hope so and I really love you a lot and I miss you a lot! Hey tell Mom I can cook like a Dominican now.   I'm still working on the big dishes, but some of the small items I can manage! I'm making you guys mangu when I get home! I hit 5 months on the 12th!!!! Whoo hoo! I had some cool teaching experiences this week just because I'm finally becoming more comfortable with the lessons and more confident in Spanish. I didn't flounder for words so much. But I know that only happens with obedience! 

      Chickungunya is mosquito disease! You should look it up and tell me about it more! It's from Africa and makes your whole body hurt! OH FORWARD THIS TO MOM TELL HER TO SEND AN ICE PACK!  AND A MUSCLE RELAXANT!

 Love you!

Leah

painting toes while stuck inside sick!

Mom,

    This week was a little hard.   Some days are still hard and I'm learning to choose to be happy.  It has been really hard this week because I'm white, blond and American.  I got told a lot that I don´t know what hard work is, how to work, and that I have never had any real problems.  That's hard because people here just judge me for what I look like and so they automatically think we have nothing in common that they can't really trust me and so it's hard to build relationships with the people especially because even though I can somewhat communicate I can't really show them who I really am still. And it's not just the investigators, but the ward members too.....so that's hurt a lot this week.   If I could really show them who I am I know they'd like me more.   Or at least trust me more but the ward members  have already judged us as American and aren´t willing to change their minds. Also if you don´t clean like a Dominican it is wrong- bottom line. So that's irritating...especially because they are SUPER inefficient....but I'm learning how to clean like a Dominican....

Love you.

Leah

Dad,

     I've never experienced being judged purely based on what you look like. And I can now say that after living here for almost 5 months I have been judged more in that way then in my entire life.... but other that that we had an incredible opportunity to serve people this week.   I have been praying this week to be in the right place and in the right time so that we can be where He wants us to be and help someone, and He provided! It was really cool! We helped a contact I had made about a month ago with a member clean her house.   And she said she had been wondering how on earth she would do all that work in her house when we showed up.  And then we shared with her after! She said that she knows God sent us to her to help and the scripture Hna C. shared was the exact same scripture that she had been given 30 yrs before by some other christian missionaries right after her daughter had died. It was the "can a mother forget her child" scripture that is also in Isaiah and it was so special. She said that she had been thinking of me and wondering if she´d see me again and here we were.  Amazing that one contact can make a difference in someones life! Love you. Send this to mom!

Leah

Hello everyone!

     We had our baptism and it was an incredible experience! Ican´t believe that I get to be a part of this work and preach the gospel. I feel so blessed for everything I have and I'm grateful to be learning so much here. I´m SO HAPPY they are baptized! They are now on the path to Christ and their eternal salvation. That is generations of people who will now be affected! I´m just so excited! 

       Oh funny story! We were at a family home evening and it was the waiting time after the lesson when you can talk as you wait for your food and I fell asleep on Hermana Calderon´s shoulder...  and then drooled on her.....in front of everyone....   The funny part is I'm not even as embarrassed as I should be!=) It was more like - oh well- that's  embarrassing....=) 

Anyways love you!

Hna Carey


Baptism pictures!

Leah's mosquito netting over her bed

Someone's house

Dear Daddy!

HAPPY FATHER´S DAY!!!! Sorry the holidays are different here so I didn´t know to tell you last week! Yeah, I have never been so hot in my entire life.  It's ridiculously hot!!!!! You just sweat ALL THE TIME! When we get down on our knees to pray before going out we can feel our knees sliding on the tile floor. GROSS! But once the sun goes down it sometimes occasionally cools off. Oh, people say my Spanish is good.  The Elders told me that when I'm mad my Spanish is PERFECT! AHAHAH that's funny.......anyways I'm still here with Hna. Calderon so I´m happy about that! WE HAVE TWO BAPTISMS THIS SATURDAY AND ITS A FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cant even explain how happy I am and how much I love them! They were prepared by the lord to hear the gospel and they have three adorable kids that love us!!! I can see them in a year getting sealed as a family and then having three missionaries! It's so exciting! We also have another person that we think will start to progress really well!  Hna. C and I are both really happy to stay together because we both felt like our work here isn´t done. Yesterday we celebrated Rafael´s 40th birthday and we got him a tie that he can wear for his baptism and to church. Then I gave Mielit one of my black skirts because she doesn't have any for her baptism and she got so happy and excited and said that it's her first skirt and that she will wear it every Sunday! It was the sweetest thing ever! Their kids know us and their 3 yr old had their camera and pointed to me in a picture and said that´s Carey! I just about died it was so cute! Anyways I hope Father´s day was good.  This is my main email so tell Mom sorry but she can cut and paste because it would take too long to write it all again! Love You!

Leah

Mom,
  We taught this family! They are on the road to their eternal salvation!  This is such a big deal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm just super excited and Hna. C and I are singing "Be Still My Soul" for the baptism and making cookies! Did you know that that song doesn't exist in the Spanish hymnbook? They only have 209 songs!

      Go read Dad's email and oh my goodness - I love this family so much and I am so grateful to have this experience! The people you meet on your mission really do affect you and change you for the better.  Mom I've never been so happy to give something of mine away.  She lit up so much and I am so happy! When I gave my skirt away I got this feeling of "this is exactly where you are supposed to be!!!!!!!!!!!! "  

   I'm already a different person.  I have been ripped out of every single comfort zone I have and forced to do things I never dreamed of.  And I feel like I'm stronger than I was 4 months ago when I got on that plane.  

     Did you get the photos?  Will you send me chocolate? I really want chocolate and please would you like to send me a recipe for lasagna? And sweet tarts and possibly gummy life savers and the hard ones too...that's it, I promise.  I'm sorry I miss food....  Love you!

Leah